The subject matter disclosed herein generally relates to landing of an aircraft, and more particularly to determining an optimal safe landing area for an aircraft.
Optionally-piloted vehicles (OPVs) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) can operate without a human pilot using autonomous controls. As OPVs and UAVs become more prevalent, they are being operated in less restricted and controlled areas. When OPVs and UAVs are operated autonomously in flight, they must identify a landing area prior to landing. To account for unpredictable landing area conditions, OPVs and UAVs must use a perception system to identify factors that may impede a safe landing. Current art on autonomous landing zone detection has focused on video camera-based vision systems. While images from video cameras can be valuable in identifying a safe landing area, they may not provide enough information to determine suitability of a landing area with a high level of accuracy, particularly where a degree of measurement uncertainty exists.
When a particular landing area is targeted as part of a vehicle mission, such as a medical-evacuation mission, it is possible that the targeted area is unsafe for landing. Selection of a next best alternative landing area and a path to reach it can be difficult, particularly where multiple alternative landing areas exist that involve different paths.